Chainsaw Man Director Ryu Nakayama Officially Announces New Animation Studio Establishment
It was established in 2023, where animators and staff members can work free from power harassment, moral harassment, unnecessary stress, and stability in terms of money and time.
Previously, on November 24, 2023, Chainsaw Man director Ryu Nakayama hinted on Twitter that he is no longer going to work for Studio MAPPA and has plans to either move to another studio or establish his own.
On Jan 6, 2024, he confirmed that he had indeed left Studio MAPPA to establish his own animation company called Andraft Co., Ltd.
Ryu Nakayama founded the studio in 2023 to establish a place where animators and staff members can work free from power harassment, moral harassment, unnecessary stress, and stability in terms of money and time.
That is why, according to the official site, the employees recruited are given a Flextime system with 2 days off every week, though maintaining a core time structure.
The first project Andraft has taken on is the upcoming “VSPO!×Cardfight!! Vanguard” anime, a collaboration between the esports-focused VTuber agency VSPO! (Virtual eSports Project) and Bushiroad‘s Cardfight!! Vanguard trading card game.
A teaser trailer was released to showcase what the animation studio is capable of:
This project will be produced by Andraft with production assistance from Kiko, AtoriE, EMT Squared, HIJIRI, PSD DELIVERY, and IM.Lab.
Ryu Nakayama states in the announcement tweet that he and his team aim to establish a better animation production system and deliver high-quality works to the world by challenging various genres without discrimination and opening up new possibilities to passionate animators.
About Chainsaw Man:
Chainsaw Man is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Tatsuki Fujimoto. Its first arc was serialized in Weekly Shōnen Jump from December 2018 to December 2020; its second arc began serialization in Shueisha’s Shōnen Jump+ online magazine in July 2022. Its chapters have been collected in 15 tankōbon volumes as of August 2023.
Season 1 of the anime, produced by MAPPA, was broadcast from October to December 2022.
Crunchyroll describes the overall plot of Chainsaw Man as follows:
Denji is a young boy who works as a Devil Hunter with the “Chainsaw Devil” Pochita. One day, as he was living his miserable life trying to pay off the debt he inherited from his parents, he got betrayed and killed. As he was losing his consciousness, he made a deal with Pochita, and got resurrected as the “Chainsaw Man”: the owner of the Devil’s heart.
Source: Ryu Nakayama’s Twitter
